Sunday, February 28, 2016

DVD: O Xangô de Baker Street: A Brazilian Sherlock Holmes Film

Jô Soares' 1995 Portuguese language pastiche O Xangô de
Baker Street (released in English as A Samba for Sherlock in 1997) has now been
turned into a feature film by Sky Light Cinema Foto e Art Ltd with distribution
handled by Columbia TriStar Films of Brazil. While the translated pastiche has
generally been panned by English speaking Sherlockians, the author, Jô Soares, and the book itself, are wildly
popular in Brazil. Soares, a celebrated wit and cultural icon in his native
land, even makes a cameo appearance as an Appeals Court Judge in this film
version of his novel. The film was chosen to open the Rio Festival and went into
general release on October 26, 2001 in Brazil.

Cast in the key role of Sherlock Holmes is Portuguese actor
Joaquim de Almeida (possibly best known to North American audiences for his
portrayal of the villain 'Bucho' in the Antonio Banderas vehicle
(Desperado).Anthony O'Donnell is
appearing as Dr. John Watson. Also in the cast is Maria de Medeiros (Pulp
Fiction) as the French diva Sarah Bernhardt. The film was shot over a 12 week
schedule on location in London, Rio De Janeiro and Portugal.

Plot Synopsis:

Set in Rio de Janeiro in 1886, this comedy-thriller begins
with the theft of a Stradivarius violin that has been presented by His Majesty
the Emperor of Brazil to one of his more delectable mistresses--a harmless
crime in itself but one that mystifies the authorities and (far more important)
embarrasses the Emperor. At the suggestion of Sarah Bernhardt, who is on a
triumphant tour through South America, the great Sherlock Holmes is summoned
from London to solve the case. But by the time he arrives, events have taken a
turn for the worse, as a series of grisly murders shocks the city--the victims
all beautiful young women. In each case, the killer leaves his calling card: a
violin string entangled in the woman's pubic hair, the corpse stripped of a
flap of skin.

Holmes (and Dr. Watson, of course) are immediately off on
the track of the killer, but although Sherlock succeeds in coining the term
"serial killer," his celebrated powers of deduction don't get him
very far with the case itself: overcome by the charm of the tropics, some
spectacular digestive difficulties, and the strong appeal of a pretty young
actress--at thirty-two, he's not exactly a sexual virtuoso--Sherlock finds
himself in a thicker fog than he ever encountered back home in London.

And in dark counterpoint to Holmes's questionable
ratiocinations and the novel's brilliantly re-created texture of
nineteenth-century literary, social, and low-life Rio, is the chilling yet
hypnotic voice of the killer himself, a monster of intelligence, evil, and ever-spreading
fame. . .

(Note: Synopsis refers to the novel)

Cast
and Crew:

Sherlock Holmes: Joaquim de Almeida

Dr. Watson: Anthony O'Donnell

Sarah Bernhardt: Maria de Medeiros

Inspector Mello Pimenta: Marco Nanini

Baroness Maria Luísa: Cláudia Abreu

Emperor Pedro II of Brazil: Cláudio Marzo

Dr. Saraiva: Emiliano Queiroz

Esperidiana: Letícia Sabatella

Appeals Court Judge: Jô Soares

Marquis of Salles: Marcello Antony

Miguel: Caco Ciocler

Director: Miguel Faria Jr.

Producer: Tino Navarro

Writers: Miguel Faria Jr. and Patrícia Melo based on the
novel by Jô Soares

Cinematography: Lauro Escorel

Production Designer: Marcos Flaksman

Music: Edu Lobo

Review:

2001 saw the very successful theatrical
release of O Xangô de Baker Street in South America. The film has now
been given a gorgeous Region 4 DVD (NTSC) release with English subtitles
making it accessible to English language speakers with region free or
multi-region DVD players. (note: this DVD will NOT play on standard North
American or European DVD players. You must have multi-region capability to play
this disc!)

If you thought Sherlock: Case of Evil was “out there” wait’ll you get a
load of this beauty! Sure the Canonical Holmes is nowhere to be found in O
Xangô de Baker Street, based as it is on the pastiche/parody novel by Jo
Soares (released in English as A Samba for Sherlock), but the film has
bags of quirky charm. While most Sherlockians (myself included) have firmly
placed the book on their least favorite pastiche list (I am being kind in that
description), the film, while still remarkably faithful to the novel, is a
surprisingly fun romp placing Holmes on the trail of a serial killer (a phrase
that Holmes coins in the film) in 1886 Rio de Janeiro. The transition from
printed word to screen appears to have mellowed the most objectionable elements
of the novel for me, which is to say that I find it easier to deal with the
sexually naïve Holmes fumbling through foreplay on screen than having to read
graphic textual depictions. One is also not encumbered by awkward dialogue that
suffered in the translation from Portuguese to English. Sure Holmes still
exhibits some bizarre behaviour after being introduced to cannabis by his new
lady-love, suffers from explosive digestive issues and engages in more than one
sexually charged encounter, but it all has a light nudge-nudge-wink-wink feel
in the hands of director Miguel Faria Jr.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is not some sort of Sherlockian sex/dope comedy,
as a string of grisly murders ala Jack the Ripper are at the heart of the
mystery and are all presented on-screen in their full ghastly glory, but the film
reflects a different cultural sensibility than one would find in a North
American release and manages to maintain a remarkable balance between black
humor, toilet humor and murder mystery thriller. So, if explosive bowel
movements, nudity, and a dope-smoking Holmes offends, steer clear of this
one. However, if you can get beyond the obvious physical silliness and
toilet humor, you’ll find a fairly engaging mystery and a beautifully shot film
with some very pleasing moments.

The cast makes marvelous work of the uneven script. Maria De Madeiros (Pulp
Fiction, Henry and June) sets the stage with her delightful Sarah
Bernhardt. Holmes as played by Joaquim de Almeida (Desperado,24)
is a bit of a pompous ass at times, who inexplicably has Holmes displaying a
remarkable clumsiness. While it is a relatively straight performance (as
straight as this material allows), Almeida does tend to let tongue drift to
cheek from time to time. While chronic clumsiness and unbelievably wrong
deductions are the hallmark of the characterization, I still found this Holmes
more to my liking than many other recent screen incarnations. Watson, as played
by Anthony O’Donnell however, is comic foil from start to finish, particularly
during his demonic possession (?!?) sequence. While neither Almeida nor
O’Donnell look particularly like the characters they are playing, there is a
good deal of warm affection for their characters in their respective
portrayals, which makes up for a lot. The supporting cast give top-notch
performances across the board, with no one missing a beat, but the stand-out
performance comes from Marco Nannini as the much set upon and highly
sympathetic Inspector Mello Pimento. As in the novel, this character could
effectively have carried the plot through without an appearance by Holmes, but
their mutual respect for each other works well on screen and Pimento serves as
more of a partner in the investigations than the typical Lestrade figure
normally would.

In a welcome move, the characters of Holmes and Watson always speak English to
one another, so their dialogue is not subtitled, but all non-English speakers
are effectively sub-titled throughout. This approach really brings home the
cosmopolitan feel of the Rio de Janeiro setting. Speaking of which, the location
footage is gorgeous and perfectly evokes the period and exotic setting,
possibly making this one of the most beautiful Holmes films ever produced.

The DVD is loaded with extras like interviews and behind the scenes sequences,
but unfortunately these are not subtitled and only available with the Portuguese
language track. Hopefully, a North American release will be forthcoming at some
point as this film deserves to be seen by a wider audience.